This is of concern because small doses of pesticides and other chemicals may cause lasting damage to health, especially to young children and babies in the womb. It is therefore best for your health and your family’s to buy organic fruits and vegetables.

But since not everyone can afford to buy organic all the time, EWG puts out an annual guide that lists the foods with the highest pesticide loads (the ones that are most important to buy organic) and those with the least.

The guide also lists two baddies that didn’t meet all of EWG’s criteria for “most contaminated” but are still of grave concern because samples were commonly contaminated with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides:

+ Green beans
+ Kale/Collard Greens

The least contaminated fruits and vegetables — which are much less important to buy organic — are:

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ABOUT

A green living columnist for environmental organizations in her spare time, Sheryl Eisenberg wrote This Green Life for NRDC from 2004-2014 and previously wrote Greentips for the Union of Concerned Scientists. In her "real" life, she designs websites with her firm Mixit Productions for environmental groups and other non-profits and small businesses.